Broward County Prices Rise in April 2020 as COVID-19 Temporarily Impacts Sales; Surging Pending Sales to Result in Sales Increases in the Next Couple of Months

MIAMI, May 21, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Broward County median prices increased year-over-year in April 2020 as home sales saw expected declines because of the global COVID-19 situation, according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors (MIAMI) and the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.

“With stay-at-home orders ending and South Florida slowly reopening, listings and buying activity has definitely rebounded despite the COVID-19 situation,” Broward MIAMI President Sharon R. Lindblade said. “Broward County is home to a seller’s market with just 3.9 months’ supply of single-family homes. The robust fundamentals of the South Florida housing market is already leading to increased buying activity.”

The market bottomed in mid-April and surging pending sales should result in sales increases in the next couple of months. South Florida Realtors are seeing a rise in mortgage applications and additional homebuying interest from the Northeast. Nationally, mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 6% last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

The COVID-19 situation has accelerated the trend of homebuyers from New York and other tax-burdened Northeastern states searching and purchasing homes in South Florida.

Broward Total Home Sales Decrease Broward total home sales decreased 37.4% year-over-year in April 2020, from 3,141 to 1,965. Broward single-family home sales decreased 36.1% year-over-year in April 2020, from 1,541 to 985. Broward existing condo transactions declined 38.8% year-over-year in April 2020, from 1,600 to 980.

Real estate was deemed essential in Florida, but COVID-19-induced shutdowns in South Florida eliminated the traditional open house, one of the most valuable tools in selling a property. Realtors pivoted to using virtual open houses and tours. MIAMI REALTORS hosted a South Florida Virtual Open House Showcase from May 1-10 where Realtors added more than 2,000 virtual open houses and virtual tours. SouthFloridaOpenHouseSearch.com attracted more than 28,000 visitors and 90,000-page views during the Showcase. The Virtual Open House Showcase relaunches MIAMI’s South Florida Virtual Open House Program virtually.

MIAMI is hosting its second South Florida Virtual Open House Showcase (SouthFloridaOpenHouseSearch.com) event on May 22-25 to provide consumers virtual access to property tours, open houses, and direct interaction with Realtors and other industry experts.

According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage decreased to 3.31% in April, down from 3.45% in March. The average commitment rate across all of 2019 was 3.94%.

Lack of access to mortgage loans continues to inhibit further growth of the existing condominium market. Of the 9,307 condominium buildings in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, only 13 are approved for Federal Housing Administration loans, down from 29 last year, according to Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and FHA.

A new condo approval process is expected to increase sales. The new guidance, which went into effect in October 2019, extends certifications from two years to three, allows for single-unit mortgage approvals, provides more flexibility with owner/occupancy ratios, and increases the allowable number of FHA loans in a single project. The changes, many of which MIAMI and NAR has championed, are expected to generate increased homeownership opportunities.

Broward Distressed Sales Stay Low, Reflecting Healthy Market Only 2.3% of all closed residential sales in Broward County were distressed last month, including REO (bank-owned properties) and short sales, compared to 4% in April 2020.

Total Broward distressed sales decreased 64.3%, from 126 to 45.

Short sales and REOs accounted for 0.6% and 1.7% year-over-year, respectively, of total Broward sales in April 2020. Short sale transactions decreased 63.6% year-over-year while REOs decreased 64.5%.

Nationally, distressed sales represented 3% of sales in x, up from x% in April, about even with both March 2020 and April 2019.

Broward Real Estate Selling Close to List Price The median percent of original list price received for single-family homes was 96.7% in April, up 0.8% from 95.9% last year. The median percent of original list price received for existing condominiums was 94.7%, up 0.9% from 93.9% last year.

The median number of days between listing and contract dates for Broward single-family home sales was 30 days, a 36.2% decrease from 47 days last year. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date for single-family homes was 75 days, a 11.8% decrease from 85 days.

The median time to contract for condos was 38 days, a 29.6% decrease from 54 days last year. The median number of days between the listing date and closing date for condos was 78 days, a 15.2% decrease from 92 days.

National and State Statistics Nationally, total existing-home sales transactions dropped 17.8% from March to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.33 million in April. Overall, sales decreased year-over-year, down 17.2% from a year ago (5.23 million in April 2019).

In April, statewide closed sales of existing single-family homes dropped 20.7% year-over-year, totaling 21,403 while condo-townhouse sales declined 36.5%, for a total of 7,506. Closed sales may occur from 30- to 90-plus days after sales contracts are written.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types in April was $286,800, up 7.4% from April 2019($267,000), as prices increased in every region. April’s national price increase marks 98 straight months of year-over-year gains.

In April, the statewide median sales prices for both single-family homes and condo-townhouse properties rose year-over-year for 100 months in a row. The statewide median sales price for single-family existing homes was $275,000, up 6% from the previous year, according to data from Florida Realtors Research Department in partnership with local Realtor boards/associations. Last month’s statewide median price for condo-townhouse units was $209,000, up 7.7% over the year-ago figure. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less.

Broward Cash Buyers Top National Figure Broward cash transactions comprised 27.8% of April 2020 total closed sales, compared to 37.3% last year. The national figure for cash buyers is 15%.

Broward’s high percentage of cash sales reflects South Florida’s ability to attract a diverse number of international homebuyers, who tend to purchase properties in all cash.

Condominiums comprise a large portion of Broward’s cash purchases as 44.7% of condo closings were made in cash in April 2020 compared to 11.1% of single-family home sales.

Seller’s Market for Single-Family Homes, Balanced Market for Condos Inventory of single-family homes decreased 14.9% in April from 5,910 active listings last year to 5,031 last month. Condominium inventory decreased 6% to 8,137 from 8,652 listings during the same period in 2019.

Months supply of inventory for single-family homes decreased 13.3% to 3.9 months, which indicates a seller’s market. Inventory for existing condominiums decreased 1.6% to 6.1 months, which indicates a balanced market. A balanced market between buyers and sellers offers between six- and nine-months supply.

Total active listings at the end of April decreased 9.6% year-over-year, from 14,562 to 13,168. Active listings remain about 60% below 2008 levels when sales bottomed.

New listings of Broward single-family homes decreased 38% to 1,308 from 2,111. New listings of condominiums decreased 45.1%, from 2,207 to 1,211.

Nationally, total housing inventory at the end of April totaled 1.47 million units, down 1.3% from March, and down 19.7% from one year ago (1.83 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 4.1-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.4-months in March and down from the 4.2-month figure recorded in April 2019.

About the MIAMI Association of Realtors The MIAMI Association of Realtors was chartered by the National Association of Realtors in 1920 and is celebrating 100 years of service to Realtors, the buying and selling public, and the communities in South Florida. Comprised of six organizations, the Residential Association, the Realtors Commercial Alliance, the Broward-MIAMI Association of Realtors, the Jupiter Tequesta Hobe Sound (JTHS-MIAMI) Council, the Young Professionals Network (YPN) Council and the award-winning International Council, it represents 52,000 total real estate professionals in all aspects of real estate sales, marketing, and brokerage. It is the largest local Realtor association in the U.S. and has official partnerships with 223 international organizations worldwide. MIAMI’s official website is http://www.MiamiRealtors.com